These have been tough weeks for Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

When an oil well in the Gulf of Mexico blew out two months ago, Salazar stepped forward as the public face of the Obama administration in its response to the environmental disaster.

But in recent weeks he has been publicly chastised by the president, crossed signals with the White House over the firing of a subordinate, been railed in Louisiana for instituting a drilling moratorium and criticized in Congress for moving too slowly to revamp the agency in charge of offshore wells.

Now Salazar, who months ago seemed a rising star in the Obama administration and an instant favorite to be Colorado’s next governor if he chose to run, has apologized to experts who alleged he misrepresented their views about an offshore-drilling moratorium.

Through it all, Salazar, who gained a reputation in Colorado and the U.S. Senate for bipartisan problem solving and coolness under pressure, has told friends back home that his relationship with President Barack Obama remains solid and that he is holding up well under the scrutiny accompanying a national disaster.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, a fellow Colorado Democrat, called Salazar “one of the hardest-working people in public service” and not one who shirks from acknowledging mistakes.

“Ken is doing what he should be doing — and that is working around the clock to stop this oil spill, clean up the mess and rescue the communities in the gulf region,” Udall said.

Criticism mounts

Others are less sure that Salazar has weathered the storm.

A month ago, Julian Zelizer, a political scientist at Princeton University, predicted that the oil spill would be “a huge test” for Salazar, because most Americans pay attention to the actions of Cabinet secretaries only during a crisis.

Since then, “things have only gotten worse for Interior and the administration,” Zelizer said.

Interior has been criticized both for responding too slowly to the disaster and for failing to enact safety standards that could have averted it, he said. “This isn’t simply an unpredictable disaster. It has its roots in weak regulations.”

In the latest blow to Salazar’s reputation, an undersecretary in his department last week apologized to a panel of engineering experts that Salazar had selected for associating their names with an offshore-drilling moratorium they had not reviewed and did not approve.

By listing them in a report that also contained 22 safety recommendations they did review, “we did not mean to imply that you also agreed with the decision to impose a moratorium on all new deep-water drilling,” Deputy Secretary David Hayes wrote. “We acknowledge that you were not asked to review or comment on the proposed moratorium.”

The letter expressed regret for “any misunderstanding or confusion” caused by Salazar’s report to the president on offshore drilling safety measures.

The apology followed other signs of conflict and miscommunication with the White House, all stemming from the April 20 explosion and oil spill from a BP drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

At a May 27 news conference announcing the moratorium, Obama faulted Salazar for saying the government had its boot on the neck of BP.

“I would say that we don’t need to use language like that. What we need is actions that make sure that BP is being held accountable,” he said. (This was, of course, before Obama himself spoke of kicking another part of whoever is responsible.)

The president also praised Salazar for making changes at the Minerals Management Service, the Interior agency that regulates offshore drilling, but suggested that “obviously they weren’t happening fast enough. If they had been happening fast enough, this might have been caught.”

“Is his job safe?”

Conflicting accounts also arose over the departure of Elizabeth Birnbaum as MMS director last month. Salazar announced she resigned voluntarily, while White House sources said she was fired.

Asked to clarify, Obama replied that he had just learned of her resignation and had not yet spoken to Salazar about it.

“I don’t know the circumstances in which this occurred,” he said.

“Is his job safe?” a reporter asked at the May 27 news conference.

“Yes,” Obama said.

At the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group critical of Salazar’s performance at Interior, executive director Kieran Suckling doubts that.

“I do think his job is in jeopardy,” Suckling said. “This crisis called for clear decision-making and communication. Salazar provided neither.”

Tom Strickland, Salazar’s chief of staff, said they have been at the White House almost daily talking with senior staff about capping the well, containing the leak and protecting the shoreline.

“Ken is single-mindedly focused on that,” Strickland said. “He’s not worried about his political standing. He’s worried about getting the job done.”

David Olinger is an investigative journalist who has worked for newspapers in New Hampshire, Florida and Colorado since 1976. In 18 years in Colorado, he has covered a variety of subjects for The Denver Post.

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